BJP’s unexpected sweep of India’s general elections means that Prime Minister Modi has a clear mandate to follow through on its reform agenda. However, we believe his government will struggle to push through more difficult reforms, such as labour market and land reforms, which are much needed to lift the country’s growth above 7%.

India’s consistent budget deficits are expected to continue over the coming years under a BJP-led government in the second term. Fiscal consolidation is needed to lower elevated debt levels as India’s weak fiscal position is a major macroeconomic challenge.

The UK held local elections in England and Northern Ireland on May, 2nd. The Conservatives and Labour took a drubbing in the polls. Meanwhile, Tory- Labour talks on the desired Brexit outcome are going nowhere fast.

The US has raised import tariffs from 10% to 25% on 200bn worth of Chinese goods shipped to US shores and China has vowed to retaliate. In this report, we assess the economic impact of these measures, as well as a scenario where the US-China trade war fully escalates.

Recent figures support our expectations for lower economic growth in the Netherlands this and next year. Consumer confidence, for example, has rebounded slightly but is still negative. Meanwhile inflation appears to outstrip wage growth and the Dutch PMI has dropped.

The centre-left socialists have won Spain’s national elections, but need to find support of others to govern. This should be doable, yet very tough. The economy should not suffer much in the short run, but the longer term outlook is clouded.

China’s economic growth did not disappoint at first glance in the first quarter of 2019. It seems that the previously introduced fiscal and monetary stimulus measures have put a floor under the economic slowdown since the second half of 2018, but it’s too early to cheer about a broad recovery.

Eurozone economy grew by 0.4% quarter-on-quarter in the first quarter of 2019. Domestic demand in the Eurozone is expected to be the main driver as external demand was weak. Italy climbed out of recession in the first quarter of 2019, while Spain remains the Eurozone’s bright star.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has increased its monetary tap to meet government funding needs. Although the magnitude is nowhere near bad practices around the globe, the option of debt monetization remains tempting, whereas the Indian government should implement reforms instead.

Article 50 was extended for a second time during a special EU summit on 10 April. The new cut-off date is 31 October, the date by which the UK must have approved the Withdrawal Agreement (WA) and have translated it to domestic law. An earlier departure is possible as soon as the UK ratifies a withdrawal deal with the EU.